The teacher posed the question in the form of a mathematical equation…I struggled to understand…took notes in a little notebook he handed me…after some thought I reasoned an approximation was the closest I could get to ciphering his riddle…with somewhat less than complete confidence in my conclusion, I wrote…and the answer was: 4.2…but to ad to my frustration, the notebook in which I had done my problem solving, was nowhere to be found. Thinking 5 to be excessive, I stood by my answer. 4.2 it is.

In the above mentioned dream; the place or setting (from now on refer to as the “dream landscape”), is subservient to the basic narrative. What happens when the dream landscape is central to the narrative? Just what exactly is a dream landscape? This ‘ll do nicely.

Joseph told his brothers two dreams which clearly portended his future elevation over them all, but which, for the present, simply caused them to hate him all the more (Genesis 37:1-11). In this frame of mind, they seized upon the first opportunity to get rid of the one of whom they spoke [of] as “the dreamer”.

Two.

We found ourselves…outside of our native lands–in Modern day Russia…hungry, tired and alone…cold and bleak, was the terrain…after stealing state secrets, the KGB was hot on our trail… some of the local folks could be depended upon for help…you struggled to learn a handful of phrases in an attempt to “blend in.” The journey, was fraught with danger…two tough young turks, attempted to waylay us…I produced a long stiletto knife, stabbed and killed one…the other…ran off…the days were long and the nights were cold…stolen cars, trains and buses were our homes.

We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep–or so says Prospero, in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

There is in sleep something mysterious which seems, from the earliest times, to have impressed man and aroused his curiosity… But the mystery of sleeping is enhanced by the phenomenon of dream[s] which accompanies it.

Three.

The pantry being bare–necessitated a trip to the store…in addition to groceries there was a small deli…outside, in the grounds existed a greenhouse and shed full of old tools…surrounded by what appeared to be loaves of bread piled up around it…literally growing up around it…the gardener was at hand and I ask what this strange thing was growing all around his shed. I was told it was a fungus not unlike the biblical “manna” the Israelites fed upon in the wilderness…the gardener offered me some of this to eat…It was quite tasty, having the texture and smell of fresh baked bread…immediately, I suggested this would make a good sandwich–being so much like the real thing…and inquired as to the price…an answer was not forthcoming…vague…frustrated, I went into the deli repeating my question…no such luck…became apparent they had no desire to sell me any of this wonderful food…some secrets, have no price.

The dream unfolds.

We walk, run, fly and float through strange landscapes. Characters appear and turn into different people. Objects are transformed. A rope becomes a snake. Uncle Harry turns into a Tibetan monk and it all makes sense in some screwy, dreamlike way.

You’re getting sleepy.

The dreaming brain employs all of the same systems and networks,… but with a few critical differences. Input from the outside world is screened out. Self-awareness ceases. The body is paralyzed. And everything that the dreaming brain sees, hears or feels is generated from within.

I get this one a lot. A little musical interlude is in order, I think. I give you Travis.

Exactly my bloody question–could it be ’cause you live in Scotland?

You can wake up now and log your prophetic or unusually vivid dreams here, for free.

“Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes?” –- Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark [1981]

Perhaps, because I was tought it wrong, I always believed that the biblical story of the woman and the snake went something like this: “..and the heel of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent,” but after some research, I learned, that’s incorrect.

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

…elderly Chinese woman who discovered a snake with a clawed hand protruding from its body was so scared she beat it to death… “I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw.” …then grabbed a shoe and beat the snake…